By Courtney Price
Ken and Monique Charbonneau, a couple in their 70s, have been loyal Duke of Somerset customers for 35 years. Their afternoon ritual of having a beer at the pub will end on Oct. 29 when the Duke of Somerset, a Centretown landmark for 70 years, closes its doors .
“We’re going to miss the place,” says Monique Charbonneau. The couple has been coming to the bar for nearly half their lives, but has not decided where, or if, their afternoon tradition will continue.
Edgar Mitchell, owner of the Duke, says the main reason behind the closure is the smoking bylaw initiated in 2001.
He says that anywhere from 60 to 80 per cent of his customers were smokers, a factor that makes him especially susceptible to the bylaw.
“This problem is the worst in a situation like mine; high percentage of smokers in a social place as opposed to a restaurant,” says Mitchell. “Fine dining, chains, and fast food aren’t affected, or very little. We’re the type of people that are affected.”
He says he was forced to sell the property that has been in his family for 68 years because of $1 million loss since the bylaw was introduced.
“Three years ago when the ban hit us we’d been on two years of strong, rising sales and good profitability,” says Mitchell. “So don’t tell me that the business wasn’t viable. It just turned immediately and started down, and continued down.”
Other businesses in the region have not felt this drain. Maia Stonebridge, manager of the Royal Oak on Bank Street, says that they’ve made it past the bylaw blues.
“Originally everybody took a hit, but we’re pretty much over that hump,” says Stonebridge.
The Duke was not capable of making the same leap. They offered a menu, sports events and karaoke, but Mitchell says these things were only moderately successful.
He says that the Duke’s customers are “set in their ways,” and come to socialize. For these purposes, he says, having a cigarette is essential for his clientele. “When they’re not allowed to do this, they socialize less,” says Mitchell. He says that over time, this has eroded the Duke’s profitability.
Another dent in the Duke’s financing came during the first months of the bylaw when the bar was fined for allowing people to smoke indoors, intentionally breaking the bylaw. Mitchell says this cost him anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 in fines.
He says he felt justified in doing so because the bylaw was still being challenged in the courts.
“As soon as we lost in court, I became compliant,” says Mitchell.
He says his establishment was “blindsided” by the bylaw and was given only four months to adjust. He says that assistance to businesses, either through a transition process or financing, would have helped his situation.
“We felt there should be some easing into it because we knew it meant significant difficulty.”
These measures would not have been necessary for every business. Stonebridge says her business coped “just fine” with the bylaw.
Randy Hughes, executive director of PUBCO, the Pub and Bar Coalition of Canada, a group critical of the bylaw, says that over 150 businesses in Ottawa have gone under since the bylaw was instituted. He attributes this to normal market fluctuations combined with the smoking bylaw. He says the most damage to businesses was found west of Bank Street.
“When it’s starting to affect places that have been around for years, you know it’s a serious problem,” says Hughes. “When you see places like that close, it really hurts our culture.”
“This place will be missed. It is heritage and a landmark,” says Jeff Seabrook, a client for over 25 years.
“It’s very, very frustrating and disappointing because I’ve been involved in this business in the downtown for years and tried to make it work,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell says that the upstairs of the bar will likely be converted into a retail store, while the downstairs may remain a bar and restaurant. Regardless, he won’t be involved.
“I’d like to be part of the redevelopment of the area, but I can’t now,” says Mitchell. “I’ve just got to walk away. It’s very disappointing.”